In work apparatus of the kind mentioned above, such as cutting machines, a vacuum fan is mounted on the tool guard. The tool guard has a first tool guard part which is stationary and a second tool guard part which is pivotally mounted. The vacuum fan is mounted on the stationary tool guard part and is driven together with the cutting disc by a drive motor. The pivotable tool guard part has a center web having an end edge. This end edge rests upon the workpiece to be cut in order to ensure that the abrasion dust, which occurs during the cutting operation is taken up and vacuum removed as completely as possible.
When cutting in the forward direction, the forces acting on the end edge effect a pivoting of the second tool guard part into the stationary first tool guard part without significantly affecting the guidance of the work apparatus. When cutting in the opposite direction, the forces acting on the end edge of the center web lying on the workpiece cause the work apparatus to stand up whereby the guiding reliability is affected. This can lead even to lifting the cutting disk out of the kerf which, under some circumstances, can require the work apparatus to be positioned once again for cutting and this often leads to a ragged cut edge. For rough workpiece surfaces, problems in guiding the work apparatus therefore occur with a back and forth cutting movement (pendular cut).